Box-making machine



Jan. 9, 1940. s w 4 2,186,772

Box-MAKING MACHINE Filed April 15, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORATTORNEY Jan. 9, 1940. c. STRAW BOX-MAKING MACHINE Filed April 13, 19582 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 9, 1940 I 2,186,772 I I BOX-MAKINGMACHINE Glayton Straw, Henniker, N. 11., assignor to Kingsbury. & DavisMachine Company, Contoo- I cook, N. H., a corporation of New Hampshire IApplication April 13, 1938, Serial N9. 201,682 r I 13 Claims. Thisinvention relates to box-making machines in general, and in particularcomprises several improvements in the well-known Kings bury'8z Davispaper boxmachine of U, S. Letters I Patent No.w655,43, dated August '7,1900; No. 728,086, dated May- 12, 1903; and No. 2,082,365, dated June 1,1937, to which documents reference can be had for an understanding ofthe operation of all parts notvspecifically described t herein. Ingeneral, the present invention aims to improve the said machine in theway of speeding up the adjustment and operation of the box machine andto eliminate the waste of materials hitherto necessarily incident togetting in the size of the box being made. I I v I To these ends,theinvention comprises the novel stay feeding devices and the newbox-size adjusting devices shown in the accompanying drawings and. setforth in the following descrip- 20, tion" and claims.

In the machines of the aforesaid prior patents,

the stay feeding, cutting and pressing, devices were driven through thestroke of, the presser I which pressed the glued end-portions of thefolded box' against the form. This presser was in turn driven through aspring which yielded toallow for variations in the stroke-of the presserincident to changes in the thickness of thestock 30 forming the sidesandends of the box Since the presser thus automatically varied'itslength of stroke, and thislength of stroke determined the length of stayfed at each operation, the length. of stay which wouldbe delivered,could onlybe ascertained and averaged by trialand 4 andstay materialbefore a satisfactory adjust- .had to be adjusted iridependently', withthe manipulation oi two adjusting nuts on I each presser, or a; total ofeights'eparate nuts, in getting ,the' four stays of, each-box cut to}the desired length. vFurther, when the depth of i the box was changed,it was necessary to 1 run the machine without box blanks, make theadjust- I mentofeach stay feeder while running, and

I measure the-length ofstay thus clipped off-until the right length wasfound, .repeatingthis operation successively with the other three-stayfeeders. Since the machine runs" at from70 to tity of stay materialwould inevitably'be, cut off the machine in proper adjustment after achange error during the operation of the machine upon ment could beobtained. Also, each'stayxfeeder,

120 cycles per minute, a relativelygreat quana.

and wasted bythe four stay feeders beforethe adjusting. was completed,to say nothing of the waste of time and effort involved in making theadjustment. Lastly; there was always the waste of the firstbox formedand stayed in the machine, because in order to wet the adhesive of thestay strip, the machine must be run one cycle II with no blank in it, tofeed the stay past the moistening device, This meantv that the strokegiven by the presser to the stay feeding slide'was too great, as therewas neither form nor blank to stop the inward stroke of the presser andhence the length'ofstay'fed during the outward stroke of the presser inpreparation for'receipt of the first blank wasconsiderably longer-thanthe vertical height of the corners of the box, so that the stays appliedto the first box spoiled the looks of the bommaking it necessary todiscard it.

' In accordancefwith the invention, the stay feed is rendered entirelyindependent of the stroke of the presser. Accordingly, it is possible todetermine exactly, in advance, by reference-to a scale, the exact lengthof stay thatwillbe fed at each and every stroke, and thusto make thefirst exactlylike all the rest. Thus, all the customary waste of boxblanks and stay material in adjust- I ing the machine is eliminated.Most important,

it makes it possible to adjust all four stay feeders simultaneously andidentically, with 'a minimum of effort and loss of time; Further,through making thestay feed independent of the presser,

which latter retracts the knife which cuts off the stay, the fullhalf-cycle of the machine during which the knife is retracted can beused for feeding the stay; heretofore only one-half of'the' back strokeof the presser o r one-quarter'cycleof machinecould be doubled withoutrequiring an.

increase in the rate ofstay feedoverthatpreviously determined to .be themaximum possible"- speed, which maximum rate 'of stay-feed is one,

of the factors definitely limiting the speed of,

production obtainable in these machines.

-To facilitate and speed up the width and length adjustments of thecorner-blocksand other parts I which shape the box around the form,jackscrews are provided to impartmovementi'to these parts endwise ofthebox-whilekeeping them in;

I parallelq relation, and the problem of keeping these jack-screws outofthe path oftheuver tically reciprocating iorm I has been solved by usingopposed right and left-hand threads on each screw, so that the screwsnot only retract or push inward the parts to be moved, but alsothemselves move outward to clear the form. This arrangement replaces theprior primitive method of using a mallet to pound the parts inward oroutward, with no provision for keeping the parts in parallel relation.Means is provided to carry the stay-feeder driving devices along withthe corner-blocks in thus adjusting the length-staying of the machine,so that such adjustment will not change the length of stay being fedunless otherwise adjusted. Adjustment of the corner-blocks to suit anydesired Width of box is attained by screw'means without affecting theoperation of the stay feeding devices.

Other aims of the invention, and their manner of attainment, are as willbe'made plain hereinafter.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the main parts of a Kingsbury 8;Davis quadruple stayer, showing the stay-feed driving mechanism andblank feeding devices of the invention in place thereon, with thestay-feeders themselves removed.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. 1, with certain partsomitted, showing the driving mechanism for the stay-feeders and thesizeadjusting devices.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of one stay-feeding deviceshowing its connection with its actuating slide. i

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the actuating slide of Fig. 3, showingthe details of construction.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the stay feeding device of Fig. 3, showingthe stay feeding rolls therein. i

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the stay feeding device alone of Fig. 3,showing the manner in which the supply of gummed stay material issupported and moistened.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line 'l'l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the adjustable link motion whichdetermines the length of the stays projected at each cycle of themachine.

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Fig. l.

The stay feeding devices, indicated generally at l in Figs. 3 and 5, areeach mounted by means of its foot 3 upon one of the four corner-blocks 5by means of a bolt 1' put through hole 9 in the horizontal portion ofsuch foot. These corner-blocks 5 are made as usual, except in suchparticulars as have to do with their adjustable mounting as will bedescribed hereinafter, and perform their usual function of holding thefour sides of the box in bent-up relation about the form during theapplication of the stays to the corners of the box, and of guiding thestay pressers, not'shown, which reciprocate diagonally inward in slots[0 as heretofore to press the gummed stays into'adherence with thecorners of the box. These corner-blocks are in fixed relation upon themachine except during the adjustment of their position, as heretofore.

Each stay feeder I has an angularly upstanding arm ll, Fig. 6, at theupper end of which is a stud l3 and guard 15, holding a roll I? ofgummed stay strip which is led around an idler 19, over. a moisteningroll 2| partially immersed in water in a small tank 23, thereafterreversing its direction of travelaround roll 25 to be nipped betweendriven feed roll 27 and a presser roll 29 on the end of an arm 30pivoted at 3! on the stationary frame 33 of the stay feeder. A thumblever 35 pivoted at 3'! on frame 33 has a hub on its extremitycontaining a spring-pressed plunger 'll the head of which presses downon arm 30 to press roll 29 and the stay strip yieldingly against thesurface of the feed roll. To prevent gumming up of roll 29 withadhesive, wetting roll 2! has a groove around its surface centrallydisposed in its strip-engaging lace, and presser roll 29 is made narrowenough to run on this unwetted central zone of the glued face of thestay strip.

Feedroll 27 is rotated by means of a gear 43 fixed on its shaft 45, apyramidal fluted knob 41 being fixed on the outward end of shaft "45 topermit of manual operation of the feed roll when desired. Gear 43engages with a larger gear 49 forming the outer element of a Hortonclutch or ratchet 5|, of which the inner driving element is fixed on astub-shaft 53 on which is also fixed a pinion gear 55 meshing with arack 5! fixed on a slide 59 working in ways 8! provided on the side offrame 33 and held in place by a flat portion of a gear housing 62 fixedto frame 33 by screws 63. As will be obvious, when slide 59 is movedlengthwise of frame 33 in a direction away from feed roll 21, shaft 53will be rotated by the rack and pinion in a counterclockwise directionto drive gear 49, thereby imparting clockwise rotation to gear 43 ofFig. 5 and a corresponding stay-feeding rotation to feed roll 21; whenslide 5! moves reversely, the rollers between parts 49 and 5|, of theHorton clutch release their grip, and no rotation of gear 49 takesplace. All four stay feeders at the four corners of the box are made asdescribed, except that two of them have their racks 57 located belowpinions 55, so as to feed the stay strip during the stroke of slide 59in the opposite direction to that described.

To actuate the slides 59 of the stay feeders, a driving slide 65 ismounted at each side of the machine for reciprocating movement insuitable slots in two blocks 61 (Figs. 2, 4 and 7) one of which is fixedon each of the four corner-blocks 5 by bolts put through holes 59 and Hand through the corner-blocks. The top portion of each driving slot 55is dove-tailed in section, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7, to receive thecorrespondingly-shaped bottom portion of two camblocks 73 which are thusmade slidable along the length of the driving slides without danger ofescape therefrom, each block being split at one end as indicated at T5and equipped with a cap screw Tl drawing together the sides of slot 15,to clamp the block securely to slide 65 after it has been given theproper position thereon, the top of the slit being held apart by a studl9. I

On the cam block 13 is mounted a short section of cam-path 81, attachedwith capacity for angular adjustment by screws 83 put through slots 85-in lugs 81 at the sides of the cam-path. Each actuating slide 59 of theseveral stay feeders I is provided with a rectangular camfollower 853which fits within cam-path 8| and which has a shank 9'! fixed to it andswiveling in a vertical bearing in slide 59. Thus, when the drivingslide 85 is moved in one direction toward the left in Fig. 2, in thepresent instance, each cam-path 8i, normally standing at a 45 angle tothe length of the driving slide, causes each actuating slide 59 of thestay feeder to move below-its pinion in the" other of these stayfeeders,

imparts the same feeding direction of" rotation to the respective feedrolls 21 so that both feed their stay material simultaneously. undertheir respective guards 93 intoposition-t bepresse'd as heretofore bythe corner-press'emintoadhesion with the sides of the box adjacent thecorner being stayed and to be cut off bythe usual knife traveling withthe presser at the properpoint to fit the height of the box sides.Reverse move-- ment of driving slides 65, to the rightin Fig. in theconstruction shown, merely moves the actuating-slides59 and rotatesthedriving element of the Horton clutch reversely and idly inpreparation for the nextfeedingstroke.

The adjustable mounting of cam-paths 8| on cam-block I3 is utilized onlyin first setting up the machine, or in correcting for wear in the courseof long use or for errors in machining,

as its only function is to obtain the same length of stay feed in thecase of all four stay feeders for a'given movement of driving slides 65;i.,eL, to equalize the feed of all stay feeders.

Once this equalization has been attained, the adjustment of the lengthof stay delivered and cutoff from each of the four stay feederssimultaneously, to suit the depth of box being made, is attained byvarying the throw of the driving slide 65'. These slides are driven inuni-sonfrom a common rockshaft '95 at the left-hand side of the machine,mounted in bearings 91 on the machine frame. Each slide 65 is providedwith a laterally-extending pin 99 working in a slot IiiI, in the end of,an arm I03, Figs. 1' and 8, the hubof which is splined at 'I05 to therockshaft with capacity for adjustment along such rockshaft without lossof .its angular relation thereto (to provide for width adjustment of,the machine) and held in operatively fixed position along such rockshaftby a cap screw I0I clamping the split hub tightly in placeon rockshaftPin 99 "fits closely in slot IOI, to avoid lost motion. j

Thelength of each stay fed and cut is accurately controlled by varyingthe throw of'rock shaft 95 in the following manner: rockshaft 95'ispr'ovided atits end with an arm-I09, Figs fi. and 9, secured thereonagainst rotation by key III and oscillating within a casing II3 boltedrigidly to the "side of themachine. In the end of arm I09 is fixed apinI I5, on which swivels a square block II'I, closely fitting withina slotI I19 in a link I2I pivotally connected at its righthand end at I23 to aconnecting rod I25 terminating at its lower end in a strap I2Iencircling an eccentric I29 fixed on cam-shaft I3I which centric withcam-shaft I3I.' This reduced por 1 tion of shank I33 is provided with abushing I31 having a flange within the slotted front plate of casingII3; a square portion fitting slidably and non-.rotatably. within slotI35, and outside of this a cylindrical portion on' which is freelyrotatable a pinion I39 having fixed thereto a hand-crank I4I, thebushing finally terminating in an exteriorly threaded end to whichis.applied a hand-nut'I43. The reduced end of shank I33 integral withslotted link H9 is bored axially and radially to provide an oil passagelubricating the bearing surface of this shank against the interior ofbushing I3'I as the shank oscillates constantly within the stationarybushing during the operation of the machine. The outward end of this oilpassage is threaded, and acap screw I45 having an oil-cup I41 andcommunicating central oil passage are applied thereto, the cap screwholding in place a washerI-IS which prevents hand-nut I43 from beingbacked off far enough to let the oscillating link I2I move inward intoengagement with arm I09.

Thus, shank I33 of slotted link I2I forms the fulcrum about which suchslotted link oscillates when its right-hand end is lifted and lowered byconnecting rod I25 and eccentric'IZS. The amplitude of movement ofrockshaft 95, and hence thestroke of driving slides 65*and theconsequent extent of simultaneous feed of the four stay strips, isdetermined by the position of the axis of pin II5 along slot II9. Whenthe axis of pin H5 is put in line with theaxis of shank 133 about whichslotted link I2I oscillates,obviously the movement of link I2I by con-'necting rod I will cause no arcuate movement of arm- I 09 andcorrespondingly no rocking of rockshaft 95 and nofeed of the staystrips; but I as th'eaxis of oscillation of link I 2I is moved out ofline with pin I I5 and along the slot I 35 stay fed being thus in exactand fixed ratio to the spaced. relation between the axis of pin H5 andthe axis of shank I33, a'pointer I5I held on the'square'portion ofbushing I3'I outside the casing can be made to read on a scale I53, Fig.2, on top of such casing in terms of the length of stay delivered andcut off simultane: ously through each of the four stay feeders at eachcycle of the machine.

To adjust this stated spaced relation, the axis of shank I33 is movedalong slot I35 in thelcasing through manual rotation of' pinion I39 bycrank in the casing towardthe left, theportion of the MI, this pinionengaging with a rack I55 fixed;

on the casing just below slot I35. When the proper adjustment has beenattained, the set,

ting is maintained by tightening hand-nut I43. This locks the rack gearI39 against rotation by clamping it against the shoulder terminating thesquared portion of the bushing which fits-the slot I35 and keeps-it fromrotating therein, while the rack engaging with the pinion prevents relative motion; of the shank and bushing along the slot.

By this means, the length of stay fed and cut off at each machine cycle'can be adjusted and predetermined with the utmost accuracy withoutmaking it possible to set the fourstay feeders Special provision is madeto facilitate: the adjustment. of the width and length settings of themachine in changing, it over to make a different size of box, withoutlosing control of the stay feeding devices. Thus, each. of. the blocks61 which are fixed on the corner-blocks 5 and in which the drivingslides 65ers guided, is provided with an adjustment plate I51 fixedthereon by screws I59 and having a horizontal. key-hole slot IISVIformed therein withinwhich the reduced shank of shouldered clampingscrews 11 oscillates as the, driving, slides G5 are operated. Clampingscrew ll, is provided with a shoulder I63 in such spaced relation toplate I51 that this clamping screw cannot be backed out sufliciently tofree cam-blocks 13 for adjusting movement along driving slides65 exceptwhenshoulder I53 is in axial alignment with the circular hole at the bigend of key-hole slot IEI. Thus, cam- I blocks 13 are eitherclamped toslides 65 or held immovable with respect to corner-blocks 5, at alltimes.-

In first setting up the machine, the screws 11 are thus backed out intosuchcircular holes, and

- the machine is turned over to bring driving slides 55 at the extremeleft-hand end of their stroke as viewed in 2,- small marks I65 beingprovided to be visible out from under casings I61 guarding the movementof arms I03, so as to indicate such extreme position. Link I2I of thestroke-varying device is racked back by handle IM to its extremeleft-hand position, pointer I5l standing at the end of the scale whichindicates full stroke. With the extreme or starting position for themovement of each cam-block I3 and its cam-path 8! thus established withrespect to block 51 and thereby with respect to its stay feeder I and inparticular with respect to the actuating slide 59 thereof having thecam-follower 89, it-will be seen that each actuating slide 59 of thefour stay feeders is kept at the starting position of its stroke duringthe entire time that the screws 11 are loosened to permit spreading ornarrowing of the machine. When these screws are again tightened, theactuation of driving slide 65 will thus impart an equal feeding stroketoeach stay feeder, and assure that camfollower 89 will work within itsproper scope in cam-path 8!. H g

In widening the machine, it is necessary to shift the position of-armsm3 lengthwise of rockshaft 95. To effect this easilyv and accurately,casings l6! are bolted onto the end of each sidetable I69 ofthe machine,on which are mounted corner-blocks 5, and which are movable widthwise ofthe machine. Each casing N51 has protruding lips between which the hubof one arm I03 fits rather closely. Thus, when clamping screws I91 arereleased, and side tables I69 moved in or out to provide for a change inthe size of the box being made, arms I B3 will be carried along shaft Q5and along their splines I95 without loss of alignment with theirconnected driving slides 65.; After such adjustment, clamping screws ID!are again set up to prevent the slightest lost motion at this pointarising to vary the length-ofthe-stavfed.

Knob 41 for manual feed of the stay material provides for-wetting" theglue on this material before the machine is started, the pyramidal shapeshortening the machine to; enable it to make boxes of different lengthscompriseadiusting screws I13, Fig. 2', each. having both a righthandand. a left-hand thread. One of these threads engages within a verticalextension on a bracket I11 extending outwardly from the center frame I15at each end of the machine. The other thread on each screw I13 isthreaded into a. block 119 fixed at midlength to the under side oi eachof the two cross-bars I8I which are received in freely sliding butclosely-fitting relation in slots I83 in the four corner-blocks 5, whichare mounted for endwise sliding adjustment on side-tables I69 by meansof slots I85 and bolts I81. When these screws I13 are rotated by awrench applied to the squared outer ends thereof, after looseningcorner-blocks 5 on sidetables I69, the screws will pull outwardly on thepair of corner-blocks at each end of the machine, to lengthen theform-receiving central aperture within the machine, and at the same timethe screws themselves will back out of the machine by reason of theirreverse threads so as not to enter the path of the form; yet thesescrews will not protrude far enough beyond the ends of the machine to bein the way of the operator in his working around the machine. Thus thereverse threads on the screws make possible the use of screw -adjustmentmeans permitting the necessary extremes of length-adjustment of themachine without interfering either with the passage of the form orcreating an inconvenience or hazard to the operator. The width-adjustingdevices remain as heretofore, comprising singlethread screws I 89operated by hand-wheels I9I sliding the side-tables I59 in or out ontransverse tracks on center-frame I15.

While I have illustrated and described certain forms in which theinvention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may bemade therein by any person skilled in the art, without departure fromthe scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I donot wish to be limited to the particular forms shown, or to the detailsof construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. In a box-making machine, in combination. box-forming devices, presserdevices, a stay feeding device, a drive-shaft, means causing thedrive-shaft to drive the forming and pressure devices, and intermediatedriving connections between the stay-feeding device and the driveshaftincluding manually. adjustable means for varying the scope of thedriving impulse transmitted to the stay-feeding device from thedriveshaft, independent of the time and scope of oneraticn of thepresser devices.

2. In a box-making machine, in combination. box-forming devices, presserdevices, a stayfeeding device disposed obliquely .of the bot: beingformed and at one corner thereof, a slide reciprocating parallel to oneside of the box. a cam and cam-follower intermediate the slide and thestay-feeder actuating the latter upon reciprocation of the slide, adrive-shaft, means drivin the presser devices from such drive-shaft. andmeans independent of the presser devices and the said driving meanstherefor transmitting actuation from the drive-shaft to the slide.

3. In a box-making machine, in combination. a stay-feeder comprisingfeed-rolls, a slide, and rack and pinion connections between the slideand the feed-rolls to rotate the latter when the slide is moved, asecondslide, cain-and-follower connectionsbetween the two slides whereby thefirst is actuated to rotate the rolls when. the:

second-is moved, a drive-shaft, and direct connections between thedrive-shaft and the second slide for actuating the latter.

4. In a box-making machine, in combination,

four stay-feeders each serving one corner of the box being made, asingle oscillating element driving element with such lever with capacityfor varying the point of such connection along the length of such lever.

6. Driving means for the four stay-feeding devices of a box-makingmachine including, in combination, a drive-shaft, a single connectingrod driven by such shaft, a single lever vibrated by I theconnecting'rcd, arms in driving connection ciprocation of the form.

with the stay-feeding devices, and driving connections between thesearms and the lever shiitable to vary the throw of the arms and thus tovary equally and in unison the amplitude of actuation of all fourstay-feeders and the length of stay fed at each actuation thereof.

7. In a box-making machine, in combination, a stay-feeder, cam meansactuating the same, a movable element actuating the cam means, andconnections between the cam means and-the movable element providing forshift of the cam means incident to change of the latter*s position onthe machine for boxes of different sizes, a reciprocating form,box-forming devices shiftable on the machine to provide for the makingof boxes of different sizes, and means in connection with thebox-forming devices causing shift of the cam means with respect to itsactuating element with retention of the time relationship between thecams. actuation of the stay-feeder and the re- 8. In a box-makingmachine, in combination, a stay-feeder, a slide, cam means on the slideactuating the stay-feeder, devices forming? a corner of the box, movableon the machine to provide for making different sizes of boxes, andcarrying the stay'ieeder, and means alternatively fixing the means tothe slide or to the corner-forming devices, to keep the cam means indefinite relation to the stay-feeder regardless of the position of thelatter on the machine.

9. In a box-making machine, in combination,

devices forming a corner of the box adjustably positioned on themachine, a stay-feeder carried by such devices, cam means actuating thestayfeeder, a driven slide, and a clamping screw alternatively fixingthe cam means to the slide when tightened and holding the cam meansagainst movement relative tothe corner-forming devices when loosened.

10. A staydeeder for box-making machines having-in combination a feedroll, means pressing the stay into feeding engagement therewith,ratchet-clutch driving the feed roll, a pinion driving one element ofthe ratchet-clutch, a rack. driving the pinion, a member movingobliquely to the rack, a cam carried by such member engaging a part onthe rack, and means for reciprocating the said obliquely-related memberto reciprocate the rack.

11. In a box-making machine, in combination,

7 a plurality of devices forming the corners of the box adjustablypositioned for movement width- Wise and lengthwise of the machine toprovide for the making of boxes of different sizes, means engaging atleast two of such corner-forming devices to prevent change of theirangular relation to each other, and a screw having right-hand andleft-hand threads respectively engaged with such means and with a fixedpart on'the machine to move such means and thereby the associatedcorner-forming devices simultaneously inwardly and outwardly of themachine.

12. In a box-making machine, in combination, a plurality of devicesforming the corners of the box adjustably positioned for movementwidthwise and lengthwise of the machine to provide for the making ofboxes of different sizes, means engaging a pair of such devices to moveeluding means for varying the scope of the driving impulse transmittedto the stay-feeding device from the drive-shaf, independent of the timeand scope of operation of the presser devices CLAYTON STRAW.

